TUCSON, Ariz. — Doctors removed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from a respirator on Saturday, a week after she and 18 other people were shot in Tucson, but she underwent surgery to insert a tracheotomy tube in her windpipe.

A statement from University Medical Center said the tube would protect her airway and free her from a ventilator. The statement said a feeding tube also was inserted, and that both procedures "are not uncommon among brain-injured patients in the Intensive Care Unit."

Doctors said she remains in critical condition, but is recovering well. Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has remained by her bedside.

The Safeway grocery store where the shooting occurred reopened at 7 a.m. local time. Business was brisk.

"Our employees have been through so much but they are here, they're working and kind of anxious to reconnect with their customers and the community. We're doing OK," store spokeswoman Cathy Kloos said.

Jared Loughner, 22, was targeting Giffords at her "Congress on Your Corner" event at the supermarket, authorities said. He took a cab to the grocery store and went inside to get change for the fare before the rampage, authorities have said.

Eric Thayer
/
Reuters

A man stands outside the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson on Saturday.

Across town, thousands of shoppers browsed for guns at a trade show, despite new questions about permissive gun laws in the United States.

"People see it as either guns are going to get banned, or I'm going to get shot," said stall holder Randall Record, 27, explaining the mood at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on the outskirts of the city. "Either way, it drives sales."

Also Saturday, paramedics recalled what happened when they were dispatched to the supermarket a week earlier.

Firefighter paramedic Tony Compagno said after his fire engine arrived on the scene, he jumped out and began triage on the victims that lay on the walkway outside the grocery store.

At least four people were already dead.

Compagno, a 13-year veteran paramedic, said Giffords and the youngest victim of the mass shooting, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, needed the most immediate attention. Green was among those who died.

"It was a lot of chaos and a lot of blood," said Kyle Canty, 39, who responded along with Compagno. "It's like snapshots in my head."

As the city of Tucson continued to try to heal, a video shot by the suspected gunman showed the former community college student touring campus at night and at times rambling about free speech and the Constitution.

Loughner shot and narrated the video tour of the Pima Community College campus that illustrated his deep anger toward it, at one point saying "I'm gonna be homeless because of this school."

College officials confirmed that the video, discovered on YouTube, was the last straw in their decision to suspend Loughner from school Sept. 29.

In the video, he calls Pima "a genocide school." Panning an empty concourse, he says: "We're examining the torture of students."

The Los Angeles Times received a copy of the video under an open records request.

Also Saturday, authorities revealed details about the suspect's final hours. Loughner posed for photos with a gun, dressed only in a bright red G-string, and had the film developed on the eve of the rampage, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so.

Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrew a total of $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his New York City apartment the night before he was found lifeless in his bathroom with a syringe still in his left arm, sources told NBC News.

The detailed timeline of Loughner's busy 11 hours before the shooting also had Loughner checking into a motel, posting "Goodbye friends" on the Internet and buying bullets from a Walmart.

As those details came to light, at least a half-dozen lawmakers around the country met with constituents at gatherings similar to the "Congress on Your Corner" meeting where Giffords was shot. The events, they said, sent a message that violence would not keep them from meeting face-to-face with constituents at supermarkets, hardware stores or anywhere else.

The events, however, were held amid tight security.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff.

Video: Small milestones mark Tucson’s slow recovery

Closed captioning of: Small milestones mark Tucson’s slow recovery

>>>to recovery. this was a day of small but significant milestones in
tucson
, exactly one week after that brazen attack. doctors today were finally able to take congresswoman
gabby giffords
off a ventilator, removing the breathing tube that ran down her throat. they replaced it with another tube into her windpipe as a precaution. though still in
critical condition
, they may learn soon whether she is able to speak. also today the supermarket where the attack happened reopened its doors. a simple but as it turned out emotion-filled act. nbc's
miguel
almaguer is outside the store now with the latest for us.
miguel
.

>> reporter: lester, good evening. this
grocery store
was a backstop for the bloodshed, a symbol of the tragedy and on this one-week anniversary a symb symbolic gesture to move forward. no longer a crime scene but still a place of sorrow. at
10:10 a.m
.

>>join with us in a moment of silence.

>> reporter: only sobs broke the silence. many here witnessed the bloodshed. today they pray for the dead.

>>everybody was touched by this. everybody.

>> reporter: as
tucson
remembers the victims --

>>we're examining the torture of students --

>> reporter: -- we know more about the suspect.

>>thank you. this is jared from
pima college
.

>> reporter: this is believed to be the voice of
jared lee
loughner, a rambling tirade recorded at
pima community college
a month before the shooting.

>>this is now a genocide school where i am going to be homeless because of the school.

>>when you're looking at this video by jared loughner, you're looking at someone who appears to be in the midst of a mental breakdown.

>> reporter: the youtube clip is the latest piece of evidence gathered by investigators. it comes as they release the suspect's timeline before the rampage.
november 30th
they say loughner bought a glock nine millimeter handgun.
january 7th
a roll of film is dropped off at a
tucson
walgreens. the day of the shooting just after midnight loughner checks into a motel. at
4:00 a.m
. he writes "good-bye friends" on a
social networking website
. three hours later ammunition and a bag are bought at a walmart. then just before
10:00 a.m
.,
jared lee
loughner takes a cab to safeway.

>>there is multiple people shot.

>> reporter: 19 would be shot at this suburban
strip mall
, six killed. today the funeral for phyllis schneck, the 79-year-old great-grandmother who spent winters in arizona. across town at
university medical center
, where hundreds gathered today,
jim tucker
was discharged. two were in good condition. congresswoman
gabrielle giffords
, believed to be the target of the gunman, is now off a respirator but remains in
critical condition
. the memorial outside the hospital grows each day.

>>we have to come together and stand with each other and show love to one another.

>> reporter: a few
miles away
, a smaller tribute, but for some a closer connection. this is where lives were lost and where a community tries to move on. and tonight a steady stream of people have come to this memorial. it will be some time until things return to normal but that's exactly what many are trying to do tonight. lester.

A hearse carrying the remains of U.S. District Judge John Roll arrives at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church before his funeral on in Tucson, Ariz., Friday, Jan. 14. Roll was killed in the Jan. 8 shooting that left six dead and wounded 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
(Morry Gash / AP)
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Mary Kool holds a single red rose outside the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church where the funeral of U.S. District Judge John Roll was to take place.
(Eric Thayer / Reuters)
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A flag recovered from ground zero is raised during funeral service for 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Tucson, on Thursday, Jan. 13. Green was the youngest victim of the shooting rampage. Green was born on Sept. 11, 2001.
(Mamta Popat / EPA)
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Left to right, Roxanna and John Green, mother and father of Christina Taylor Green, and their son Dallas Green, arrive at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church for her funeral in Tucson on Thursday.
(Mamta Popat / Pool via Reuters)
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People dressed as angels line the street leading to the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church where the funeral for Christina Taylor Green was to take place in Tucson on Thursday. Hundreds, dressed in white, lined the streets for more than a quarter mile of the funeral procession.
(Mike Segar / Reuters)
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John Green kisses his son Dallas on the head as the family follows the casket of Christina Taylor Green at her funeral mass in Tucson, on Thursday. At left is Christina's mother Roxanna and at right is Camden Grant, Christina's godmother's son.
(Rick Wilking / Pool via AP)
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Cindy and John McCain listen during the funeral service for shooting victim Christina Taylor Green in Tucson on Thursday.
(Greg Bryan / Pool via Reuters)
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A woman holds the service program from the funeral for 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green outside St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Tucson on Thursday.
(Mike Segar / Reuters)
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President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Arizona's McKale Memorial Center during the memorial service for victims of the shootings in Tucson. Obama told the crowd on Wednesday, Jan. 12, that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since being shot in the head during the attack on Jan. 8. Six people were killed and 13 wounded by the lone gunman.
(Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images)
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Ron Barber, 65, district director for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, is visited by Giffords aide Daniel Hernandez in his hospital room on Jan. 9. Hernandez rushed to Gifford's aid after she was shot. Hernandez said that while he held the wounded Giffords, he asked another bystander to put pressure on Barber's wounds. He also asked Barber for his wife's phone number and then shouted it out to someone so that Barber's wife, Nancy, could be informed of the shooting.
(Gabrielle Giffords' Office / Reuters)
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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama observe a moment of silence with White House staff members on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Jan. 10.
(Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images)
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Congressional staff observe a moment of silence to honor victims of the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on the steps of the Capitol in Washington.
(Michael Reynolds / EPA)
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Rachel Crabb, 5, holds hands with teachers, parents and other students during a moment of silence for her slain schoolmate, Christina Taylor Green, at Mesa Verde Elementary School on Jan. 9.
(John Moore / Getty Images)
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Candles are lit on Sunday at a makeshift memorial outside University Medical Center in Tuscon, Ariz., for those killed or wounded during the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords .
(John Moore / Getty Images)
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Six balloons representing the six people killed in Saturday's shooting spree, as part of a prayer vigil.Rep. Gabrielle Giffords battled for her life on Sunday after an assailant shot her in the head and killed six others in a rampage that has launched a debate about extreme political rhetoric in America.
(Eric Thayer / Reuters)
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The American flag flies at half-staff on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 9. In a brief statement Sunday morning, House Speaker John Boehner said flags on the House side of the Capitol in Washington will be flown at half-staff to honor the slain aide, Gabe Zimmerman, of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Thirty-year-old Zimmerman was among six killed Saturday.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP)
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Emergency personnel use a stretcher to move Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in the head outside a shopping center in Tucson on Saturday.
(James Palka / AP)
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Ernie Freuler fights back tears as Ray Lilley takes photos of the scene outside the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot in the head by a gunman who opened fire outside a grocery store, Saturday, Jan. 8, in Tucson, Ariz.
(Chris Morrison / AP)
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A law enforcement officer stands outside the home of Jared L. Loughner, identified by federal officials as the suspect arrested in connection with the shooting of U.S Representative Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8.
(Eric Thayer / Reuters)
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People gather for a candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting in Arizona at the steps of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Saturday Jan. 8.
(Jose Luis Magana / AP)
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Vera Rapcsak and others hold signs outside the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday after she was shot while meeting constituents.
(Chris Morrison / AP)
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Emergency personnel attend to a shooting victim outside a shopping center in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday, Jan. 8, where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others were shot as the congresswoman was meeting with constituents. Rep. Giffords, 40, a Democrat, took office in January 2007, emphasizing issues such as immigration reform, embryonic stem-cell research, alternative energy sources and a higher minimum wage. The gunman shot Giffords in the head, seriously wounding her, and killed six other people in a shooting rampage at a public meeting in Tucson on Saturday. Giffords was airlifted to a hospital in Tucson where she underwent surgery. One of the doctors who treated her said he was optimistic about her recovery.
(James Palka / AP)
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A woman places flowers by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday after she was shot in Tucson by a gunman who opened fire, killing six people, including a U.S. district judge, John M. Roll.
(Nicholas Kamm / AFP - Getty Images)
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In this photo provided by The White House, President Barack Obama talks with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer about the shooting.
(Pete Souza / AP)
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Emergency personnel at the scene where Giffords and others were shot outside a Safeway grocery store in Tucson on Saturday.
(Matt York / AP)
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